The invention relates to generally relates to computers and computer software and, in particular, to methods, systems, and computer program products for preventing double processing of a repeated booking request from a client in a transaction session over a computer network.
Electronic-commerce transactions of various kinds, e.g., in the travel field for finding and booking flights, may use request-response protocols to exchange content, e.g., HTML documents over the Internet, such as the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) which, in turn, relies on the TCP/IP protocols, collectively referred to as the “web”. In a transaction session formed by one or more related transactions, a server (e.g., a travel-booking server) receives requests (generally referred to as “booking requests”) from a client and returns responses to the client.
A user may use a request-response application, also referred to as a browser application, enabling the client computer to send a booking request to the server. The server may receive the same request twice before a response to the first request is returned. For example, if the user gets impatient or experiences a temporary Internet outage, the user may refresh or re-submit the initial request. In those cases, the booking request may unintentionally be processed twice, which is also referred to as double booking. To discourage users from refreshing or resubmitting a request while the initial request is still being processed, the server may return an intermediate webpage displayed at the browser that warns the user to patiently wait for receipt of the response to the initial request.
Improved methods, systems, and computer program products are needed that prevent double processing of a repeated or duplicated booking request from a client in a transaction session.